Package for lock sets



March 2, 1954 Filed Aug 18, 1950 M. KENDRICK PACKAGE FOR LOCK SETS 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. MAREO/V Ms/VDQ/CK March 1954 M. KENDRICK PACKAGE FOR Locx SETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 18, 1950 INVENTOR. MAREON A/EA/OEICK BY Patented Mar. 2, 1954 PACKAGE FOR LOCK SETS Marron Kendrick, Atherton, Schlage Lock Company,

Calif., assignor to a corporation Application August 18, 1950, Serial N 0. 180,244

3 Claims. 1

My invention relates to container and is especially concerned with means for enclosing lock sets normally displayed for sale by hardware dealers. The lock set includes two main elements, one for the interior of a dOOr and the other for the exterior of a door. It is customary to provide interior lock elements of various different kinds and appearances and to assemble them for use with variou different kinds and designs of exterior lock elements. It is customary to pack an interior unit and an exterior unit together for display and for sale. To please a customer, a sales agent Will arbitrarily reassemble various interior units with exterior units different than those supplied from the factory. That practice is satisfactory since the elements are mechanically compatible except that sometimes it is impossible to avoid mix-ups without dis assembling and reassorting entire packages and without canvassing a large stock. It is not possible for a dealer to check the order of his stock by merely glancing at his storage or display shelves.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide an improved package for lock sets.

Another object of my invention is to provide a package for lock sets in which a glance will indicate to the dealer that his display of lock sets is complete and proper and that the interior and exterior units are paired.

Another object of my invention is to provide a package for lock sets in such a way that various interior units can be readily interchanged for use with various exterior units but without possibility of mistake or mix-up.

Another object of my invention is to provide a package for lock sets of approximately the conventional contour and appearance so that the usual factory handling machinery, the customary shipping equipment and the normal display equipment will still be readily useable.

A still further object of my invention is to pro- V d a package for lock sets which is mechanically an improvement for retaining the units in position when the package is closed but which affords ready access to its content when the package is opened.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a package for lock sets of a nature that achieves the other aims of my invention and that can still be readily manufactured by the customary equipment and at a satisfactory price.

Other objects, together with the foregoing, are attained in the embodiment of my invention described in the accompanying description and i1- lustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an isometric view of a package for lock sets assembled in accordance with my invention and as it appears on an ordinary display shelf.

Figure 2 is an isometric view of an interior container for the inside lock unit or trim disposed substantially in the position it occupies on display but removed from its adjacent parts.

Figure 3 is an isometric view corresponding somewhat to Figure 2 and showing individually the interior container for the outside lock unit or trim being disposed approximately in the relative position it occupies when in its exterior box but removed from its adjacent parts.

Figure 4 is an isometric view, parts being broken away, of one end of the exterior box, the parts constituting the end panels being shown in their extended, approximately fully open position.

Figure 5 is an isometric view, parts being broken away, showing the other end of the exterior box, the parts of the end panel being in their substantially open position.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing a modified form of exterior box.

While the package for lock sets of my invention can be embodied in a number of different Ways depending partly on th nature of the material to be packaged and depending also on various characteristics of storage and display desired, it has successfully been'incorporated as shown.

In this arrangement there is provided a first interior container 6. substantially the ordinary paperboard container or the like but has a relatively long panel I at one end and a relatively short panel 8 at the other end. One side panel 9 is rectangular and the other side panel H is similarly rectangular.

A bottompanel l2 and a top panel 53 are both 'trapezoids so that the geometricshape or the volume enclosed 'by thecontainer S i-S trapezoidal;

is: connected by a Preferably .the J top-=.panel I 3' bendable'edge I6 to't'heside'paneI ii and is pro 'vided with an inturned flap H adapted to be This is in'many respects disposed behind the side panel 9. The volume of the first interior container 6 and its contour are such that it readily receives the inside unit or trim of a lock set. Conveniently, the short end panel 8 contains an indicium l8 giving the customary or desired details with respect to the nature, finish, type or kind of the inside unit Within the container 6. It is important that the long end panel 1 of the first container be either entirely devoid of indicia or have any imprinting or notation thereon of a completely different character or nature from that appearing on the short end 8.

In a somewhat similar fashion, there is provided a. substantially identical second interior container 2| including a short end panel 22, a long end panel 23, a rectangular side panel 24 and a rectangular side panel 26. Likewise provided is a trapezoidal bottom 21 and a similar, trapezoidal top 28, the latter being connected to the side panel 24 by a hinge edge 29 and having an interior flap 31 which tucks behind the 'panel 26. The short end panel 22 of the second interior container is preferably devoid of indicia but the long end panel 23 is provided with an indicium 32 indicative of the contents of the second interior container.

When the two interior containers are arranged with their panels 26 and 9 in abutment and with the end panels 23 and 8 substantially co-planar, they occupy an approximately rectangular volume and are readily received within and snugly fit an exterior box 36. This is preferably fabricated of the customary material and includes rectangular top and bottom panels 31 and 38, rectangular side panels 3?: and 4|, and end panel 42 and a second end panel 43. The end panel d2 of the outer box is substantially conventional in that it cooperates with a pair of side wings 44 and 46 and has a marginal flange 41. The forward end 43 is especially arranged so that while it will retain the interior containers in position, the pertinent portions of the indicia 32 and if: can readily be discerned. This can be arranged either by making the end panel 43 itself of transparent material, as distinguished from the opaque material in the remainder of the box and as shown by the panel 43a in Figure 6, Or by providing cut away portions 48 and 49 on an upper flap 5i and similar, cut away portions 52 and 53 on a lower flap 54. The upper and inner flap 5| is provided with a tongue 56 which, when the flap is lowered, is inserted in a space between the bottom of the interior containers and the bottom panel 38 while a tongue 51 on the flap 54 is tucked into a slot 58 on the fold line 59. When the two end flaps are engaged as especially shown in Figure 1, they provide a secure fastening for holding the interior containers in position but permit reading of the indicia 32 and I8 respectively. The flap 54 can carry an indicium 6| giving a general designation of the contentsof the container.

In use, when the outer box is stored among other, similar boxes, it is quite simple to pull out the fiaps 5| and 54 and to remove the container 2| and replace it with another, similar container containing different outside trim. r, after removing the container, it is possible to substitute a difierent container for a different inside trim. It is not possible, however, to put two containers containing outside trim into the same box without turning them end for end. In that instance, the absence of indicia on the normal back panel 1 or 22 of one of the containers is immediately apparent and is an indication through the cut out 76 with identifying indicia and viewable from out- 4 portion 49, for example, that there is something wrong with that assembly. When two containers are properly assembled within the outer box, the various indicia show appropriately and there are no blanks to indicate an error. Interchanging can be efiectuated at the factory or in a store or on display shelves without any possibility of error and with the contents properly indicated at all times.

What is claimed is:

l. A package for lock sets comprising an exterior box having rectangular top and bottom panels, rectangular side panels, and a rectangular end panel to enclose a space having a predetermined height and length; a pair of interior containers of substantially said height disposed within said exterior box, said interior containers bein of trapezoidal shape to provide one short end panel and one long end panel and being located in said exterior box with the long end panel of one interior container alongside the short end panel of the other interior container and together being substantially of said length; an end panel on said exterior box connected along a fold line to said top panel and overlying a relatively narrow portion of said long panel and a relatively narrow portion of said short panel at the tops of said panels; a releasable flap extending from the central part of said end panel and overlying a portion of said long panel and of a length to leave said short panel and the corresponding part of said long panel exposed; and a tongue on said flap disposed between said one interior container and said bottom panel.

2. A box assembly comprising a rectangular exterior box having rectangular top and bottom walls, rectangular vertical sidewalls, and opposite rectangular ends, a pair of interior boxes having a depth and length equal to the depth and length respectively of the space within said exterior box and fitted snugly therein in juxtaposition, said interior boxes having trapezoidal horizontal contours with the long end of one box coplanar with the short end of the other box and vice versa,

one of the opposite rectangular ends of said exterior box being open to receive said interior boxes horizontally therethrough, an end panel on said exterior box at the open end thereof connected along a fold line to said top panel and overlying a relatively narrow portion of the long end of one of said interior boxes and a relatively narrow portion of the short end of the other of said interior boxes at the tops of said ends, and releasable means extending from the central part of said end panel between said'top and bottom walls at a point on said open end about centrally between said vertical sidewalls for retaining said interior boxes in said exterior box whereby the short end of the interior box that is adjacent said open end and a portion of said long end are viewable from outside said box, said last mentioned means comprising a flap overlying a portion only of said last mentioned long end and clear of said short end.

3. A box assembly comprising: a pair of similar interior boxes having top and bottom trapezoidal walls and adapted to be assembled together with the long end of one box coplanar with the short end of the other box, an exterior box having rectangular top and bottom walls and opposite vertical sidewalls, one end of said exterior box being open for receiving said interior boxes therethrough when so assembled, one coplanar pair of ends of said interior boxes being marked side said exterior box through the open end of the latter, an end panel on said exterior box at the open end thereof connected along a fold line to said top panel and overlying a relatively narrow portion of the long end of one of said interior boxes and a relatively narrow portion of the short end of the other of said interior boxes at the tops of said ends, releasable means extending from the central part of said end panel between the top and bottom walls of said exterior box at said open end overlying a portion of the long end only of said one pair of ends for retaining said interior boxes in said exterior box without obscuring the indicia on the short end of said pair.

MARRON KENDRICK.

References Cited in the file of this patent 10 Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Sprowles Feb. 5, 1878 McGurn July 5, 1921 Levkoif Apr. 30, 1940 Smart Apr. 19, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1912 

